


Safe

by rainbeep



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Superboy (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hilarity Ensues, I love these nerds ok ..., Jon doesn't understand why Wally's concerned about being safe, Teenage Drama, Teenagers, but it's like PG i promise, pure diabetes, rated t for mention of sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 00:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19262074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbeep/pseuds/rainbeep
Summary: “We’re going to behave. If you say anything else, you’re gonna give Wonder Boy over here a heart attack." Jon does little but nod dumbly in agreement. He was always safe when he took Irey flying. He didn’t know why they were worried about it now. / Jon takes Irey to prom. Superdads are still dads.





	Safe

     “Now, you two -”

     “Daddy, _please_.”

     Irey’s voice was closer to a whine than Jon had heard in years, his palms on his knees and his back straight beside her. He had never really viewed his father as _Superman._ He was just his dad, hulking and having to duck his head to go through most doors, and he always knew how tight to hug to make everything feel okay.

     But the Flash wasn’t his father, and Jon was wondering if that was how Irey felt right now, her eyes darting between Wally and Clark. Having to have this conversation with _The Flash_  and _Superman_? No wonder Irey looked the way she did. Her shoulders are rounded, cheeks red hot, before fixating her gaze on her hands.

     - Huh, had she always had pretty nails? Or was that for -

     “Iris,” Wally said, leaning back in his chair. His own cheeks had a tint of pink to them, a wry grin on his features. “The sooner we cover this, the sooner you two can go do - whatever you need to do to get ready, okay? Just sit tight.”

     Irey brought her hands to her face, covering it, the paint glittering in the light.

     “You two are to be returning back by two,” Wally says, meeting Clark’s eyes and watching his chin dip in agreement. “You can go back to the Titan Tower instead, but you have to call us from the computer when you get there. We will trust that you both will behave, but -”

     Irey let out another embarrassed noise, slouching further down in the couch.

     “- but you’re kids,” Clark continued. Jon’s eyes widened, lips parting.

     “We’re not - _dad_  -”

     “And I trust you two to be _safe_.”

     Had Wally already talked to Irey about this? Was _that_  why she was trying to disappear into the couch? He wished one of his powers were invisibility. He’d hide along with her.

     “Y - yes, sir,” Jon managed, nodding in agreement. A pause. “We - will probably go back to the Tower. I - told her we’d ... see the stars, and ... the Tower’s taller.” His voice broke mid-way through, trying to remain brave, his eyes on Wally’s. Jon clears his throat, coughing out another ‘ _sir’_.

     “Irey’s talked about that, yeah,” Wally said, his tone easy. Friendly. He wondered if there was something he was missing.

     “ _God_ , don’t talk about me like I’m not here! Yes, we go look at the stars sometimes after patrol - it’s _really cool_  to see how small the city looks from up there,” Irey said, exasperated, her feet finally touching the floor from how hard she’d slouched. “We’re going to _behave_. If you say anything else, you’re gonna give _Wonder Boy_  over here a heart attack.”

     Jon does little but nod dumbly in agreement. He was _always_  safe when he took Irey flying. He didn’t know why they were worried about it now.

     “ _Please_ , dad, I gotta go meet Mar’i so she can do my hair, and Jon’s gotta go get a tie still because he _forgot - “_

 _“Fine, fine.”_ Wally said, raising his hands in a sign of defeat. “You know what the expectations are. Behave, okay?”

     Irey’s ‘ _yes, dad,’_  and Jon’s ‘ _yes, sir_ ,’ overlapped, and within seconds she had disappeared. The echo of the front door slamming was all that was left behind of her, Jon’s hair fluttering across his forehead.

     “I always make sure she’s safe, mister West,” Jon said, an afterthought. He reaches down, righting the pillow Irey had knocked off the couch. “I’ve gotten better at flying, and - I never take her _too_  high.”

     The redhead’s expression made Jon uncertain, a laugh caught in Wally’s throat as he stands. The hand on his hair is _far less_ reassuring than his own dad’s.

     “We know you’re a good kid, Jon,” he said, turning his head to look back at Clark. The man shook his head, motioning with his hands.

     “C’mon, kiddo. Let’s get you ready to go.”

* * *

 

     He meets her back at the West’s home, and when her mother answers the door, Irey a few steps behind, he almost doesn’t recognize her. Mar’i had done something to - _straighten_? flatten? - her hair, the curls she was so known for having disappeared. He stepped inside, offering Linda the bouquet of flowers that his father had said would be _proper_  to give. He barely notices the fond look on her face when she closes the door behind him.

     “You need a minute, Superboy?” She asks, her tone so sugary sweet and teasing that he feels his cheeks turn warmer than they ever had. “Cat got your tongue?”

     “I ... Irey?”

     Her laughter brought a smile onto his face, walking over and giving his arm a punch. He could see that her sparkly nail paint matched her dress, dark blue and stark against her skin.

     “ _Yes_ , you big dork. Mar’i straightened my hair and put some make-up on me.”

     “You look - so _different_.”

     “I don’t really _doll up_  for superhero duties, Jon,” she said. Linda met her eyes, walking past her to put the bouquet in the kitchen. “The flowers are really pretty. Thank you,” Irey added.

     “My dad picked them out. He said - he said it would be ... nice.”

     “Of course he did,” she said, reaching out to adjust his bowtie. There was a moment of quiet, Irey taking in Jon’s navy dress shirt, the way he carried himself. It had been a while since she noticed how grown-up he’d gotten. Irey wondered if he had thought the same thing about her. She reached down, grasping his hand in hers and leaning up to kiss his cheek.

     “Come on, we’re gonna be late.”

* * *

 

     He had his arm wrapped around her, fingers almost digging into her thigh in an attempt to make sure she was safe and comfortable in his grasp. (He _had_  promised Wally he’d be safe, and - the idea was rattling his nerve a bit.) They’d ducked out of the dance early. The loud music, even with earplugs, was a bit too much for Jon, and even though he had tried to ride it out, Irey had noticed. She’d taken his hand and slipped them out the back door, and a while later he had landed them on the Titan roof.

     They’d called home, Wally’s sleepy face illuminated by the television in their living room and Superman on patrol in Metropolis. “Meet me back up on the roof in a half hour,” she’d said, “get comfortable.”

     And she had, in a pair of running shorts and a big Robin shirt, socks mismatched. She looked more herself now, hair curly and wet from a shower, the black lines around her eyes gone. He liked how she looked before, but now -

     - this was the Irey he’d asked to prom. The one who sat on his lap as he hovered, watching the sky, the planes passing overhead. The one who drooled on his shoulder when she was half-asleep.

     “Irey?”

     “Mm?” She hummed, arms wrapped around his torso, breathing against his neck.

     “ ... What did your dad mean when he said ‘ _be safe’?”_

He listened to her breathy laughter, sleepy and cute. Her toes curled up in his lap and for a moment he was distracted. She did that on purpose, Jon thought.

     “He thought we were going to have sex,” Irey said, eyes wandering up to his own. The grip he had around her thigh, holding her steady against him, tightened.

     “Oh. -- _Oh_. ... Did ... Did you ... ?”

     “No,” she replied simply, warm and comfortable, safe. And without realizing it, Jon relaxed, exhaling a sigh of relief. The sugary sweet, teasing grin from before was on Irey’s face, but watered down now with the urge to fall asleep. "Not tonight. Not until you wanna."

     “Okay. ... Thank you.”

     “Thanks for the date, Superboy.”


End file.
